The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., has told a jury he knew his actions were considered a terrorist attack.
On the stand in the Windsor, Ont., courtroom where his trial is taking place, Nathaniel Veltman says he was influenced by the writings of a gunman who committed the 2019 New Zealand mass killing of 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques.
Veltman says his understanding of terrorism is that it's any politically-motivated violence and he was a “political person” when he crashed into the Muslim family.
The 22-year-old Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal family with his truck on June 6, 2021 while they were out for a walk in London - prosecutors have alleged his actions amount to an act of terrorism.
He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Veltman told the jury yesterday that he had been considering using his pickup truck, which he bought a month earlier, to carry out an attack and looked up information online about what happens when pedestrians get struck by cars.
Veltman also told the jury earlier this week that he felt an “urge” to hit the family with his truck after seeing them walking on a sidewalk.
Jurors have previously seen video of Veltman telling a detective that his attack had been motivated by white nationalist beliefs.
The case is the first where Canada's terrorism laws are being put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.
Salman Afzaal, 46; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple's nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2023.
